Printing, Personal Computing and Mobile BoardsHave Been Migrated to HP Support Forums

Open Menu

Printing, Personal Computing and Mobile BoardsHave Been Migrated to HP Support ForumsOpen Menu

We have completed the migration of all boards within the Printing and Digital Imaging, Desktops and Workstations, and Mobile categories to the HP Support Forums. Please see this post for full details on the migration, and how to get to your content.

Software Asset Manager (SAM) is a hot topic today and I wanted to use my time at the IAITAM conference last week in Nashville Tennessee -- the only show I’ve been to that focuses solely on Asset Management (AM) – to understand why more companies aren’t automating SAM... I was surprised by how many companies are still manually tracking software in an era when software vendors are actively pursuing revenue for non-compliance. Software vendors are leaving no rocks unturned these days! If sales can’t hit their quarterly revenue goals in a slow economy, maybe their lawyers can!

When asked why companies aren't automating software licensing, most said that while they should, SAM was too laborious to implement. In their opinion it took many months to configure because of the high level of customization needed for each software type.

Most were surprised to learn that’s not the case. We’ve simplified the implementation by developing SAM content packages. In the last few months we’ve released content packages for Microsoft and Adobe, and we plan to continue releasing packages for popular software.

SAM content packages offer a set of best practices and a turn-key solution to resolve compliance issues for software publishers. Installation and implementation time is significantly reduced due to the pre-work provided by the package. A fast import integrates a set of software counters for an immediate compliance check. This normally complex menu is automated with the content packages allowing AM to quickly recommend an accurate license count for a quick resolution of licensing issues.

Managing software contracts and licensing is getting easier through this type of automation, and it will continue getting easier. Don’t hesitate to implement SAM! You could be saving yourself the shocking costs of a software audit. I have been personally involved with a customer (now implementing SAM) that was auditing by one of the biggest software vendors (don’t want to mention names). After paying multi-millions in fees for under compliance they decided they needed some help. You don’t want this to happen to you! Don’t procrastinate – 2011 should be the year of implementing SAM!